Processing of movement information in the early stages of the visual system

We present a model for the processing of different movement patterns in the early visual system. The model consists of two processing stages: retina and optic tectum. The temporal structure of movement patterns is translated into a temporal structure of neural responses. This is accomplished by applying gain control in the retina, depressive synaptic transmission and adaptation in tectum to obtain a model that recovers during low activity in motion pauses. The model is especially sensitive to beginning movement after such pauses, enabling fast prey capture reactions in tongue-projecting salamanders